Coming to the Bay Area after winning 5 of their last 6 against Boston and the New York Mets, the Brewers really hit their stride in this four-game set. In addition to taking the division lead in the NL Central following their 3-1 victory in game 3 of the series, the bats really stepped up, particularly utility man and nerd power aficionado Eric Sogard. Of his 9 hits in the series, 4 of them went for extra bases (3 doubles, 1 home run). Corey Knebel also cemented his role as the club’s new closer, as Neftali Feliz has continued to struggle early on in the season. While the hard-throwing Knebel did surrender 3 walks in the final two games of the series, he did use 5 strikeouts to get two critical saves for the Crew in finishing out the Padres, including striking out the side in the finale.

5/19-5/21: @ Chicago Cubs

Record: 1-1 (Game 2 PPD; makeup date July 6 @ Chicago)

Results: 6-3 W, PPD, 13-6 L

Star of the Series: Jett Bandy (3-for-7 (.429), 2 RBI, 2 BB)

Now on to the series that everyone is currently talking about. Overall, it was a terrible weather weekend in the Windy City, as game one also had a significant delay (1 hour, 59 minutes) as a result of rain. 4 errors were committed in the opener in total, including 3 by the home side in Chicago. The game also featured the Major League debut of 30-year-old Paolo Espino, a decade-long minor league veteran. Espino posted a solid line (4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 K) and kept the reigning world champs at bay for most of his start. The Cubs responded Sunday with a 13-1 shellacking of the Crew, a contest only made more respectable due to a 5-run Milwaukee 9th inning. However, it is the result, or lack thereof, in the second game that really has people talking. Prior to the game on Sunday, Brewers GM David Stearns seemed to imply that he believed the Cubs had an “ulterior motive” of sorts to postponing Saturday’s contest, as he says it had stopped raining prior to the 1:20 p.m. start time. In addition, many Brewers fans had an issue with the placement of the makeup date, a previously scheduled off day between a home series with Baltimore and a trip to New York for a Yankees series. Whether this will truly make a difference in either team’s fate in a month is to be seen, but for the time being, the Brewers seem to remain a tad suspicious.

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